Letter 86 - The Office, Zone Conference, and Vertigo

Dear Loved Ones,

The Office! Zone Conference! Vertigo! And that about sums up this week! 

We only have 3 months and 3 days left to serve, less than 100 days now! I'm crying. 

Oh, and in case you were wondering, we spent most of our week in the office, so there are not that many pictures this week!!! 

Enough words and on to the pictures! 

But first, we love and miss you, and we thank you for your kind thoughts, prayers, messages and support! 

Love, Elder and Sister Brady (mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, John and Shelly, and so on)

Saturday morning, I woke up tired! I woke up in the middle of the night and could not fall back asleep! Neither of us slept well :(.

John had a follow up appointment on Saturday from his dental work the week before. I took a walk around the klong to meet him for the walk home. Several bicyclists rode by me! I prefer that to the motorcycles on the pedestrian only walkway! Haha! 

After that, I headed over to the store to buy us some new toothbrushes! Aren't you glad I took this picture? Haha! I took it so I could text it to John and ask him if this toothbrush would work for him.

In case you are wondering, he said yes. 

Then I went searching for some soft foods for John to eat. Yogurt, eggs, and pasta. I was pleased to find spaghetti and macaroni noodles on aisle number 7. It was in the Mestern Pasta Section! :)!! 

Did we mention that the new Elder Myers looks like Kevin's son, Dawson? Here he is with Elder Westcott and a Tuk Tuk driver! 

Sunday we went to church. I love how diverse and wonderful our ward here is in Thailand! We have members, friends, and visitors from all over the world and from all walks of life gather together to worship Jesus Christ! All are welcome! 

After church, we had a patriarchal blessing. This is Edouard. His mother is from Vietnam and his father is from France. He is living in Thailand. He was such a nice young man and it was a pleasure to be a part of his special day! 

Sister Gemma took a picture of us (her, me, and the Calls) the week before and sent it to me Sunday afternoon! I love the filters she uses! We all look so young! Haha! 

Monday - I didn't take any pictures at all!! We spent the whole day in the office!!! So I will post this fun picture that Katrina sent from Beijing! She found this box of yumminess at Sam's club!

Who wants to taste "Peanut Butter Pork Floss Biscuits?!?!" I can't wait to visit them in China! 

This is an actual picture of me on Monday night! I had a BPPV episode and got vertigo! We did the Epley Maneuver (you can google it) and it helped, but I have felt slight off all week. I had to do it again on Thursday night and that helped, but I am still off. The first time I had BPPV, I was in bed for a week. The 2nd time, 2 days. Those episodes happened during Covid. The 3rd time was on the mission and it put me down for about a day. This time it happened Monday in the evening, and I have functioned all week . . . but I still feel slightly off (writing this addendum on Friday evening). Hopefully next week's blog, I will be back to 100%!!

Katrina thought this was funny and shared it with us! And I don't know if there is a toy house there!

Tuesday - I also didn't take any pictures! What is going on?? So I will post these screenshots from the fun video that the Elders sent us! Guess what crawled in the back door of their house????!!!!!

Yes, that is a very large SCORPION!!!

Elder Brady is over housing, so they sent us the video to ask us what they should do. We told them to burn the house down. Haha!!! Just kidding!!! We did NOT say that!! 

Elder Brady sent the video to the landlord. 

Wednesday - I also did not take a picture, so here is a picture I borrowed from Thursday. 

We had a bit of a rain storm! 

Fortunately, I was doing my evening walk in the parking lot below, which is covered, so I stayed dry! 

The dark sky was so pretty, I had to take a picture. It reminded me of Oregon rain!

Thursday, it was egg cracking time! It's great having a child in the same time zone! I talked to Katrina for 45 minutes while I cracked and cleaned the eggs! Eggs all ready for John to scramble for Zone Conference Breakfast Friday morning!

Eggs cracked, cleaned, and ready for the pancake batter! 

Friday morning, I got up early and loaded up the cart to take all of the food downstairs to get breakfast set up! Elder Brady was upstairs cooking scrambled eggs, and the Calls were in the kitchen making the pancakes! 

The Zone Leaders, Elders Knapp and Schaffner! The Zone Leaders walked a couple of blocks with me to pick up the Moo Bing for Breakfast! It was too heavy for one old lady (me) to handle by herself! 

Fun fact: Elder Knapp is from John's sister's ward back home (Diane Turner's ward) in Utah! 

On the way back we had to maneuver through heavy traffic and motorcycles driving every which way. Elder Knapp was a little surprised at how crazy this busy road with no sidewalk is! He was also surprised at how I just marched down the road with no fear! He said, "Sister Brady, I can tell you have been here in Bangkok a while!" 

Time to dish up! We had so much food! The Zone Leaders usually make their requests for what the Seniors will prepare and serve at Breakfast. Elders Schaffner and Knapp wanted Pancakes, Eggs, Bacon, Fruit, Yogurt, and all of the toppings, along with milk, chocolate milk, and a variety of juice. Sister Call suggested Moo Bing instead of Bacon and they jumped at that. (Bacon take us 6 hours to bake ahead of time as many pieces as they want and Moo Bing is easier to just order and pick up). We asked if 2 pieces of Moo Bing (Pork on a stick) was enough. And they said, "could we have more?" I said, "how about 3 pieces?" Elder Schaffner responded, "could we have more than that?" I responded, "You sound hungry, Elder!! How many would you like??" We finally told them they could have 3 each and more than that if others didn't want their 3. They could also have unlimited pancakes! Haha! There was a lot of food! But most of it did get eaten! :) Pictured above from the left - clockwise: Sister Malquist, Elder Hiltscher, Elder Pykles, Elder Tupou, Elder DeLange, Sister Moss, and Elder Knapp. 

Elder Brady and AP, Elder Hansen. 

After breakfast, we headed back down to the office to get more work done! 

Lunch time!! Taco Bell!!! And I have to say! It was delicious! Bangkok Sisters: Sister Kanyaphan, Sisters, Furlan, Sister Plueangperamkit, Elder Brady, me, Sisters Malquist, Brown, and Moss! 

One word: Yum!!!

We got down to the courtyard too late to join in on the zone picture, 

but we took a fun one with the Sisters!

Sisters Brooks, Brown, Me, and Furlan! 

Here are all of the Sisters! 

Brooks, Brown, Furlan, Kanyaphan, Plueangperamkit, me, Malquist, Call, and Moss! 

The zone lingers a little longer to take more pictures and chat. 

I love to see the temple. 

And that wraps up another week in Thailand. 

PS - Happy Sweet 16 Birthday to our granddaughter, Charlotte!

Thank you for reading the blog!

Until next week, Sawatdee Ka

Letter 85 - Transfer Week Again!!

Dear family and friends,

It is another transfer week. What that really means is this week we have missionaries completing their missions and heading home, new missionaries arriving, some missionaries leaving the areas they are currently serving in and moving to new areas, and many missionaries getting new companions for another 6 week transfer period! 

This week included a lot of time in the office and a couple of doctor's appointments. Last Saturday, John had to have some dental work done and he needed to do some convalescing, which made for a pretty quiet week.

It is Thursday as I write this and I will wait until tomorrow to post. Friday will be insanely busy as transfer/new arrival day always is! We are heading to the temple now to attend a session with some of our departing missionaries. It is always so hard to say goodbye to them. We have grown to love them so much. 

Enough rambling and on to the pictures!

But first, we love you and miss you and we thank you for your love, support, kind words, and prayers!

Love, 

Elder and Sister Brady (mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, John and Shelly, and so on)

Last Saturday, Elder Brady is dressed and ready to go to the Market with me! Yay! 

We took a trip to Chatuchak Market to purchase a nativity for Sister Jenkin's mom! She has been asking me do this for her for a while now and she leaves this week! We finally got to the Market and made the purchase for her and her mother! 

This is what the Nativity looks like. I bought one for myself last year and I absolutely love it! It is Celadon Pottery and has been a Thai Specialty the 13th - 14th century. Sister Jenkins saw it in our apartment and knew that her mother would want one!

Thailand is also known for elephants! I love these celadon elephants! 

They are so adorable!

This shop sells so many beautiful products!

After the market, Elder Brady had a dental procedure at Bumrungrad hospital. Here he is walking the Klong home! We have walked this path countless times! 

We were very intrigued by this barge carrying an excavator. 

It was using the scooper to propel the barge forward! Pictures can't really capture it!

But we stopped and watched like young children mesmerized by the whole thing!

After walking the stairs, walking around the market, and walking to and from the hospital, my feet hurt. I decided to get a Saturday afternoon foot massage. This cost $4 USD for an hour massage. $6 if you count the tip. I don't know how I will leave Thailand in December. 

After the massage, I did some grocery shopping. Of course, I had to take a trip down the candy aisle. Mentos are only 10 baht here. That is about 33 cents USD. I googled how much mentos cost in the USA and I was shocked to see they cost between a $1 and $1.50 in the USA. IS THIS TRUE???

Sunday after church, Jess came over. We needed to catch up on all of the summer happenings. Jess was the YSA lead on the big conference we had at the end of July. We needed a debrief with her. She shared all of the stories and some additional ones! 

It was fun catching up with Jessica! We are going to miss her when we leave Thailand! 

PS - She just got cast in the musical Legally Blonde here in Thailand. She is the lead - playing the role of Elle Woods. We miss seeing our children and grandchildren back home in their plays and musicals. Her show opens just before we leave, so it will be fun to see her perform. 

After story time, we ate scrambled eggs and bagels for lunch; and then, we played a game of cribbage. Jessica won! 

After Jess headed home, it was time for dinner. Nothing sounded good, except Nutella. 

On Monday, I only took one picture. 

I have to wonder if the dogs can read this; and if so, do they read it in Thai or English!?

On Tuesday morning, I woke up to this sweet picture on my phone! 

We sure miss our grandchildren! This is Sawyer and Dawson! 

Sometimes I am accused of posting pictures of others on the blog that don't look good! So here is one of me . . . that does NOT look good! I am in the waiting room at the doctor's office.

Here is a somewhat better picture on our walk home from the doctor's office. 

This was around 6pm on Tuesday evening. Can you see the moon? 

Here, let me zoom in. 

Wednesday, I did not take any pictures. I was in the office all day long! So here is a picture of my desk. This will have to represent my Wednesday!

Thursday walk along the klong! I had a follow up doctor's appointment and after the appointment, I met Elder Brady on this path and we headed to the market to pick up our fruit order for transfer morning breakast! In case you are wondering, I bashed my elbow when Katrina and family were in town and it was still bothering me. All is well, I have some nerve inflammation, but nothing too serious! No permanent damage! Thankfully! 

Beautiful flowers on my walk! Google tells me this is a Rangoon Creeper. It smelled really good, which I think is funny, considering the name is Creeper!

Thursday afternoon, Sisters Merritt and Brown stopped by to say hello! They were our Rayong sisters, who are being transferred to other areas. We won't have sisters in Rayong any more! :(

Sister Justensen (from the West mission) and I bumped into each other on the 5th floor and saw we were wearing matching dresses!!! So we asked the missionaries to take a picture of us. And this showed up on my phone! West mission missionaries! Can you spy Elder Brady in the upper lefthand corner?

Matching dresses!! 

If you zoom out, we look taller and thinner! Haha! 

If you move the camera up high, our arms look longer than our bodies! 

Thursday afternoon, we went to the temple with the departing missionaries. 

We stopped for a picture on the way out. 

Our departing sisters! Sister Jenkins and Sister Sanford! 

I love these Sisters so much!! They arrived in the mission just after we got here. We gave them new arrival orientation when they got here, we inspected their apartments, we went to lunch with them, ate Cinnabon with them, and now we are saying good-bye to them. We have known them their entire time in Thailand! It is so hard to say good-bye! 

Thursday, missionaries are arriving for transfers! Sisters Jenkins, Merritt, Sanford, Malquist, Peterson, and Brown. And Elders Dodini and Lewis! 

One more picture! 

Friday morning, I came down to the first floor to drop off some supplies for training our new arrivals and look who I ran into!!! 

Ma Beer and Ma Pen from Rayong!! We were so happy to see them! I think we exchanged 20 hugs! 

8am, Friday morning, it is time for transfer morning breakfast! It is our standard breakfast of Moo Bing (grilled pork on a stick), Sticky Rice, Pantangko (Thai Donuts), and lots of delicious fruit! We have 3 new Sisters this transfer! On the left you see Sister Plue, Sister Prasitchai, and Sister Moss! Sister Zabala waves hello on the right! 

After breakfast, the missionaries gather around to find out who their new companions will be! The greenies meet their trainers! There are lots of cheers of excitement! 

More missionaries! 

More hugs! 

Time for a group picture! All of our new missionaries with their companions and our mission leaders!

Time for training. First Sister Nok gives them information on their visa renewals!

Next Elder Brady talks about housing and bikes! 

More training by Elder Brady! We were so proud of these 13 tired missionaries. They have been traveling for a couple of days and are so jetlagged! 

Picture time on the 5th floor balcony. 

A picture with Sister Hanks who is getting transferred! We have loved getting to know her in Bangkok. 

One of our new missionaries, Elder Myers, looks so much like a grown-up version of our grandson, Dawson! 

Lunch in the mission home was Khao Soi and Thai Fruit Salad! It was out of this world! 

Elder Dollar brought in some Durian Potato Chips to sample! 

I was a little scared. 

But I went ahead and tried it! 

I can't believe Lays has this flavor! 

It was not bad! 

But I did need some candy to get rid of the after taste! 

Friday afternoon, Elder Westcott and his new companion Elder Myers smile for the blog post! 

We love Elder Westcott! We have known him since the MTC and he was our Branch President in Rayong. He will finish his mission in December one week after we do. And we look forward to getting to know our grandson look-a-like, Elder Myers! 

Well, I started this on Thursday and now it is Friday night! 

Thanks for reading! 

Until next week, 

Sawatdee Ka!